The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that no voter was migrated into a new or different polling unit in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) before the Saturday area council elections.
The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, stated this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.
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Mr Oketola said that while the election was conducted successfully, the commission observed that some voters experienced difficulties locating their designated polling units on the election day.
He, however, said that contrary to claims in some quarters that voters were migrated to new or different polling units shortly before the election, no voter was migrated in 2026.
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Mr Oketola recalled that under its expansion of voters’ access to PUs initiative, INEC, in 2022, created over 56,000 additional polling units nationwide, increasing the total number of polling units from 119,972 to over 176,000.
He said that in order to populate the newly-created polling units, many of which had zero registered voters at the time, 6.7 million voters were migrated from about 12,000 congested polling units to approximately 17,000 less congested polling units across the country.
“In the FCT specifically, 411 polling units were decongested, with about 580,000 voters redistributed to 1,156 polling units.
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“The commission notes that no new voter migration was carried out in 2026. The split polling units referenced in recent discussions were created in February 2022 and not in 2026.
“For clarity, split polling units are additional voting points and Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) devices deployed to ease voter accreditation and fast-track voting in large polling units with more than 1,250 registered voters.
“The objective is to enhance orderliness, reduce overcrowding and improve the overall voting experience.
“These split units are located only a few metres away from the original polling units and remain within the same premises,” he said.
Mr Oketola said that to further assist voters, INEC provides an online Polling Unit Locator available at https://cvr.inecnigeria.org/pu.
This, according to him, enables voters to confirm their polling unit by selecting their state, local government area, Registration Area (Ward) and PU.
“INEC further clarifies that the splitting of polling units did not alter voters’ registration status, but merely redistributed voters within the same location for administrative efficiency.
“However, the commission observed during the mock election in the FCT that many voters who were migrated in 2022 were still experiencing difficulties locating their polling units, necessitating targeted interventions.
“Accordingly, text messages and emails were sent to affected voters on Wednesday, Feb. 18, Thursday, Feb. 19, Friday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, indicating the locations of their polling units.
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“These notifications were intended solely as reminders to assist voters in identifying their designated voting points,” he said.
Mr Oketola encouraged voters to verify their polling details ahead of elections and, where possible, to physically visit their polling locations before election day.
He reiterated INEC’s commitment to continuous improvement in electoral service delivery.
He also urged voters to take advantage of all verification platforms provided in order to avoid unnecessary inconvenience.
(NAN)
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